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Heiligen Kaisertum Österreich
The Heiligen Kaisertum Österreich (English: Holy Austrian Empire) was a realm in the centre of europe, it seperated from the Holy Roman Empire in 992 when a group of powerful Austrian Nobles led a large army in a war of independence. After the war they agreed to work with the Holy Roman Empire and they co-operated economically and militaristically. It was a major Militaristic power in the middle ages and managed to maintain a large army of Knights instead of using peasant forces. __ToC__ History Founding of the Empire The Holy Austrian Empire was created by seven nobles (all Barons), who all established themselves as being of the House of Habsburg after the succession. They massed an army of mainly knights and defeated the Holy Roman Empires much larger army at the Battle of Salzburg, this was a battle early in the war but due to the size of the defeat it caused the Holy Roman Empires moral to fall so much that it would take more than twenty years to recover. After many smaller skirmishes, the two forces agreed to establish Austria as a free state from the Holy Roman Empire Early Imperialism In 997 AD, three of the original barons lead invasions into neighbor states of Bohemia and Hungary. While the Bohemian war was over quickly with large concessions of land and wealth after the capture of Praga (Medival Prague) the Hungarian war went on for longer as the Austrians suffered defeats to begin with such as the Battle of Presburg however when Koppány rose up in 998 and after some Austrian victories, the Holy Austrian Empire agreed not to invade further and allow the Bavarian Knights through the Austrian territories if they gave up land occupied by the Austrians at that moment. For four years they experienced an increase in status and looked as if they would become a powerful central empire. In the four years more basic industry appeared (Blacksmiths, Miners and Stone carvers), the empire accumulated wealth and began trading around Europe and they improved their military (forming them into a purely knight force armed and equipped with some of the highest quality weapons of the time. However their enemies in Hungary were also building and soon they spoke out against the Popes original verdict of not excommunicating the Holy Austrian Empire and the Hungarian King visited the pope, who then changed his mind and announced that they were to be excommunicated for their actions five years ago. The Hungarians moved in quickly and recaptured some of their lands, the Holy Roman Empire even considered joining the Hungarians. The Emperor at the time, Henry I, suffered a mental breakdown after losing his son in an ambush and so was forced to abdicate. Charles I, one of the sons of the original nobles was elected to take the title of the Holy Austrian Emperor (which he did). He led many counter attacks against the Hungarians, the most famous being the Battle of Wien (medieval Vienna), in which Hungary lost five very important nobles, though the Hungarians continued their advance. However he managed to negotiate with the Pope and beg forgiveness, the Pope forgave him in winter 1005 AD and lifted the ban of excommunication. Charles then negotiated peace with Hungary and although he lost a large amount of land, he made sure that all settlements on the way were burned so to limit the Hungarian victory. Rule of Charles I After succesfully negotiating peace and causing the Hungarians to win only a hollow victory, Charles went around building defences around Austria to defend from possible future invasions. He fortified everywhere he could and put the country into severe debt by building 87 new castles. For the project he recruited workers from all over europe and brought them to the Empire to build these new fortifications. It took 9 years for the smaller castles and 21 years for the final large city defence castles. In 1025 after the final castles were built, Charles had managed to reclaim a majority of the money lost however still lacked a reasonable percentage of the original amount of money. Governance States The Sates of the Holy Austrian Empire were numerous, with a castle being the centre of each state. Nobles would try and claim their own state, as every state was owned by a noble however the state of Vienna was owned only by the Holy Austrian Emperor. States are approved by the Reichstag and the Holy Austrian Emperor and to be approved must meet a set group of criteria: *The suggested state must have a Castle deemed fit to defend the state and its inhabitants. *The suggested state must have one noble (of at least a Baron) and his family in ownership of the area of the suggested state. *The suggested state must have a good amount of Knights proportional to the area. *The suggested state must have an Imperial Church. Holy Austrian Emperor A Holy Austrian Emperor would be elected by the Nobles of the Reichstag, however the electee must be of the House of Habsburg and must be approved of by the Pope (unless circumstance doesn't permit). After being elected he would have to be crowned by the Pope. They also needed to be Catholic and own a state within the Holy Roman or Austrian Empire. The emperors of the Holy Austrian Empire had a good relationship with the church after the lift of excommunication in 1005 AD unlike the Holy Roman Emperors who quarreled with the church on a regular basis. Reichstag The Reichstag (Imperial Diet) of Austria was created out of the Viennese manor of the Baron who suggested the idea. At first the idea was shunned by Henry I who thought that the monarchy should be hereditary instead of elective but after the death of his only son and his decent into madness, the Reichstag enforced itself as a major governing body. Charles welcomed the Reichstag and worked with them closely trying to keep the balance between the monarchy and the Nobles of the Diet. The Reichstag seats are owned by the owners of the different Austrian states (the Holy Roman Emperor does have a seat and is part of the Reichstag). When a subject is brought up for debate and then a vote, the Noble bringing up the subject announces it then they all converse for some time. Eventually they form into groups backing different ideas or solutions and present them to the rest of the Reichstag, then they would vote (each Noble had a vote different in size due to their vote being worth the population of their state) and after the votes were tallied the idea or solution with the most votes was enacted. A few noble have spoken out against this governance and refused to go along with the Reichstag, which has resulted in them losing Nobility if they refused to comply when asked again and even their lives in extreme cases. Economy Resources The natural resources of the Holy Austrian Empire were numerous and garnered them a good amount of trade without having to process them. They were primarily Iron ore deposites (moderately harvested), Timber (moderatedly harvested) and Lignite (moderately harvested). The land in Austria is also quite fertile and allows for good agriculture (although the mountainous and forest landscape makes it very patchy). Industry The industry sectors of the Holy Austrian Empires (Agriculture, Industry)thrived during the reign of the Charles I. Agricultural goods were highly produced, they were primarily Livestock (heavily produced), Forest products (moderately produced), Grains (heavily produced), Wine (lightly produced) and Potatoes (moderately produced). Industrial goods were on the increase since the 4 years peace, they were primarily Iron (moderately produced), Commoners goods (moderately produced), Nobles goods (lightly produced) and Weapons (lightly produced). Culture Religion The national religion of the Holy Austrian Empire was christianity, those who practiced another religion were to be persicuted by the State owner by law and those that didn't practise a religion were safe from the law however not from public humiliation. The Imperial Churches were expected to administrate religious holidays, events and promote christianity as the one religion. There were allowances for people not to beleive in christianity but not to beleive in another religion however even then those that did not beleive were not allowed to become important figures; Knights, State owners and Blacksmiths for instance. This religious policy made it almost impossible for non-religious people to be found in the Holy Austrian Empire. Law Law in the Holy Austrian Empire was written up carefully by the Reichstag and Charles in 1006 AD after forcing Hungarian peace they found that there were many things going on within the Empire that would have been considered unholy and so they organised a crack down under new laws. The criminals of the empire were crushed, some organised Hungarian criminals joined together and took over a border town. This led to the Győr Massacre where 5000 Austrian Knights killed 18,000 Hungarians even those co-operating with the Austrians. In the Empire the knights maintained law in peacetime however when at war, militia forces maintained order. Crime was low as most Austrians were happy with the Empire and its laws while other groups feared a repeat of the Győr Massacre. However while knights were expected to maintain law, the law allowed people to sort out their own problems as it also included the law of honour. Military Organisation The Emperor was the supreme commander of the "Um der Wienerritter" (Order of the Viennese Knights) which included all knights of Austria. Then command broke down into the state owners and they in turn were ranked by their title. The Knights in each state were under the command of the state owner and they each had their own role in the Order which was determined by their wealth. Ranks of the state owners mattered when armies came together however most of the time they didn't unless their enemy was also massing in large armies. The ranks of nobility go as such: *'Erzherzog' (Archduke) - Held only by the members of the House of Habsburg *'Großherzog' (Grand Duke) - Held by nobles who controlled a large state and/or were part of a highly influential house *'Herzog' (Duke) - Held by nobles who controlled a reasonable state and/or were part of a reasonably influential house *'Graf' (Count) - Held by nobles who controlled a small state and/or were part of a slightly influential house *'Freiherr' (Baron) - Held by nobles who were in control of a state but were not particularly important Knights The Um der Wienerritter was established as a sort of medieval armed forces for Austria after the formation of the Holy Austrian Empire. Their title in german was Ritter. The Knights of the order are split into groups (determined by wealth) and in these groups fur fill different roles to make an effective army. The poorest Knights would be "Bogenschützeritter", they would be lightly armoured and would only be equipped with a crossbow and short sword normally (it varied depending on the knights wealth). They would be excellent shots as they practised daily however their sword fighting was average. The next level up would be "Fuß Ritter", they would be moderately armoured and would normally be equipped with a range of pole arms and a shield and sword for close combat. They would be lethal in close combat and their skill with pole arms was unmatched by enemy forces. The wealthier Knights would be "Doppel-Ritter", they would be heavily armoured and would normally be equipped with various blunt and cleaving weapons or swords along with a shield. Their skill in warfare was lethal, they trained heavily to the point where they could break the toughest of armour with a blow from a morning star. The richest Knights would be "Reiter Ritter", they would be heavily armoured and could be equipped in many ways however they preferred blunt force weapons and pole arms to swords, they also carried a shield. Their horses were also heavily armoured particularly at the front, they were for breaking enemy formations with head on charges even standing spear formations found it hard to break an Austrian heavy cavalry charge. Technology Political Advances The Holy Austrian Empire has advanced from an absolute monarchy into a semi-democratic nation since 992 AD. Economic Advances Due to new developments in smelting within the 11th century the Austrians were able to reach a much higher output of iron, steel and other metals. Cultural Advances Culturally the Empire remains a single religion nation and maintains a fine art culture, there were few changes to its culture in its lifetime. Military Advances The Holy Austrian Empire was first nation to establish a tightly organised military in the form of the Um der Wienerritter. Category:Heiligen Kaisertum Österreich